Sacrifices
by ayame salo
Summary: What happens when Touda slips a little but then does something stupid? Can he redeem himself in the eyes of his master by giving back the life Tsuzuki gave him? T for now.
1. Chapter 1

**Sacrifices**

Disclaimer: I do not own Tsuzuki or Touda or anyone else from Yami No

Matsuei, however hard I may wish it or how much I dream it.

* * *

Chapter One: Cold Hearted

"You know where Kurikara is! Tell me, Touda," Hisoka demanded. Touda

sighed, getting up from his spot on the wall and walking along the top of it,

ten feet from the ground, with perfect balance. He didn't even look up at the

shinigami.

"You are too young… and too weak to face Kurikara, boy. You wouldn't

last more than a minute," he replied emotionlessly.

"I can fight him!" he insisted, blushing in mad frustration. "And I'm not a

child anymore. I only-" The serpent god stepped off the wall, landing inches in

front of him. Hisoka's eyes widened in surprise, but he dared not to take step

back.

"If you can beat me, you might just barely be able to beat Kurikara." He

leaned forward, glaring Hisoka in the face through his visor. "And you can't

beat me…" He turned and started to walk away. If he hadn't given him a little

scare, the boy would've been after him all day. He felt a lithe hand clutch the

back of his shirt tightly.

"Fight me, Touda," he commanded.

"No. I do not take pride in sparring with weaklings. Especially _children." _

But Hisoka refused to let go

_"Fight me_," he hissed.

"No," he answered, not yet raising his voice. "Let go of me. Tsuzuki

would be upset… if I killed you."

"You wont. I can do it! I want to be stronger," he pleaded, falling to his

knees. "Please, fight me!" He let go of the snake, but then he let go when the

air around the shiki became a stifling temperature. It had almost burned his

hand. Touda began to walk once more but Hisoka grabbed his arm

persistently.

"You don't know the first thing about power." The air around them

shuddered and there was a wave of super-heated pressure that exploded

around the snake, throwing Hisoka back a couple of yards. His turned, walking

over to the boy lying on the ground, covered in minor burns, his clothes

slightly singed. He knelt down over him. "You wouldn't even last a moment

with me." Touda lifted him up carefully, receiving a few curses. Hisoka glared

up at him.

"What are you doing?" Hisoka snapped.

"I'm taking you to Rikugo, so he can take care of those…" He carried him

toward the said astronomer's place.

"They'll heal. I'm a-"

"But not for a while. And Tsuzuki would kill me if he finds out." A

moment of silence reached them as he walked.

"Touda? Will you not tell Tsuzuki? What I was asking you?" he pleaded

softly. Touda was silent.

* * *

"'Soka, Touda; what happened?!" Touda looked up, sighing. He was

fallowed by Byakko.

"He was being annoying…"

"So you did this?" his brunette master cried, staring in disbelief. Touda

nodded truthfully. Hisoka was silent, pursing his lips. He didn't want to tell

Tsuzuki he had been after information about Kurikara, the sword smith

dragon locked away in another dimension of confinement, because he was

perfectly aware of the sort of lecture he'd receive. "Well, let's take him to

Rikugo's for now, until he heals…"

* * *

"Touda, what were you doing?" Touda lowered his head. He didn't want

to tell Tsuzuki, not because the boy had asked him not to, but because he

knew it would worry him further. He had given Hisoka a taste, now surely he

wasn't foolish enough to go after Kurikara. "Touda?" The man clad in black

met his master's eyes loyally.

"He was fallowing me, trying to make me fight him. I told him I wouldn't,

but he was stubborn, so I just gave him a taste to put him back in line…"

Tsuzuki watched him sadly, sorrow turning to anger. He slapped him. Hard.

Touda didn't look him in the eyes again.

"Sometimes you're such a jerk. You're so cold…"


	2. Chapter 2

-1Thank to ladyasil for the reviews I didn't want to write for a while-- but this encouraged me!

Chapter 2 : Tyrant

Touda sat alone outside on the outskirts of GensouKai, his back against a tall oak tree. The hebi wasn't one to pout, but he felt like Tsuzuki had really no reason to be angry with him. If anything, he should be thanking him. Though Touda felt self-loathing when he scolded his master in such a way, even in his own mind. Touda had not hurt the boy that badly. His master's partner just needed a rude awakening, and for Tsuzuki's sake, he had _helped_ him. He wasn't going to baby him so that in the end he would stubbornly make such a stupid decision as he wanted. He knew how much the boy meant to Tsuzuki, and for that reason, he had burned him to shake him into reality, and remind him how powerful a shiki could be. He would have killed himself. And then Tsuzuki would be lonely and sad again.

And Touda would be sad.

His master was everything to him. He was the only one to offer him forgiveness; freedom to repent for what he had done. He would still be imprisoned if it were not for him.

His scolding made Touda shiver. He had rarely seen Tsuzuki angry like that. And even after he got mad at Touda, he usually came and comforted him, like a loving mother should after punishing her perverse child. But Tsuzuki had not come. It had been two days and Touda had not moved from this spot.

The sun was starting to set for the third time since the visored shikigami had come to this place. The tree provided shade and a backrest, but his spine was beginning to ache, so he rolled over, laying sprawled out on the ground at it's base, his eyes closed, uncaring and welcome to anyone that may happen to come by. His guard was down, but he didn't care. He just wished to sleep, something he had refused to succumb to for the past few days. Tsuzuki's unusually sharp words echoed in his mind.

Of course he was cold…

He was a snake god.

Touda stared up at the darkening sky. But the mere fact that Tsuzuki was hardly ever upset with his shiki to such an extent made him doubtful.

_Human's have such fragile emotions…_

He told himself that, yet still, his heart hurt, as if he had been betrayed.

_But why doesn't Master understand? He knows I would never hurt him or anyone he loved intentionally… Doesn't he?_

"Touda…" That voice made him want to snarl, but he remained motionless, ignoring the teenager's presence. "Touda! I want to know where Kurikara is," he demanded. Touda was standing in front of him almost instantly, scowling down at him.

"You moron. You still want to face Kurikara, though you know you would be nothing but an insignificant insect to him?" Hisoka shivered, not really expecting the shiki to have reacted so violently so quickly. He stepped back uncertainly. "If you're still this selfish, then I'll tell you. But don't you realize what you're death will do to Master?" he snapped. "He is in the (Fuyu?) Desert." He turned away, settling back beside the tree. Hisoka bit his lip, now silent.

He walked away.

_Good riddance… That boy is so selfish. He doesn't care about anything but gaining power, and he doesn't care who he hurts when he will fail. He _**will**_ fail…_

He sighed and pushed away from the trunk to turn to the boy again but he had already gone. He hung his head low, regretting what he had done.

_How foolish… He is just a naïve child… But Tsuzuki knew that. He trusted me to unable him without hurting him. To not tell him, no matter what the kid said. What have I done…? _

"What the hell are you doing in my palace?" the phoenix hissed, glaring at the masked man clad in black venomously.

"Suzaku, I need your help…" he pyr-hebi admitted lightly.

"What is it?" she growled in an unwelcoming tone. Touda sighed, wishing he should have gone to Byakko or Rikugo for help first.

"Well… Tsuzuki's partner has gone off to find Kurikara. We need to bring him back before he gets himself into trouble…" Suzaku jumped down from her perch on the stone column to better interrogate him.

"How would he know where to go? And why do you care?" she snapped, stopping so that her scowl was inches from his emotionless face He was silent for a moment. "You sent him!" she confirmed, anger flashing in her narrowed eyes. "What's wrong with you? Do you hate him? Don't you know what it did to Tsuzuki just when you burned him?! You-you tyrant! He's going to die and it'll be all your fault! Tsuzuki will never forgive you!" He said nothing, only lowered his head.

"We need to go find him," he said, a little quieter than his usual stern words. She nodded. They stood beside each other, ready to teleport ((AN: I'm sorry!!! I don't know if they can teleport, but I'm putting it anyways.;; Don't burn me!! Wahhh! Runs away sobbing That's all!)). They embraced to make travel faster. The female shikigami looked up at Touda with disgust.

"He shouldn't have saved you from that place. You've never shown him gratitude or mercy or affection. _You're just a tyrant_," she added hotly, and the next second, they were gone. Touda closed his eyes, trying to block out the words that stung. He could almost always just shrug off the poisonous comments, but now he couldn't bring himself to ignore the criticism. He felt like he deserved it.


End file.
